The Frail One
by GothicaWaywardAngels94
Summary: Princes Sam and Dean find themselves in the sorcerer Crowley's cottage in the middle of the forest. Don't worry though, he's not evil or anything, and he bears gifts... extremely unconventional gifts. Souls. Sam/Jess, Dean/a whole lotta people, but not Dean/Crowley.


This is a sort of fairytale AU that I wrote about a month ago, not on hiatus, people. I've just had 'writer's' block...

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We don't get a lot of royalty in here, your majesties, pardon the mess." The middle aged man said as the three of them entered the cottage.

Sam and Dean, princes of the kingdom by the sea, had ventured into the forest on a whim, told by villagers and servants that a wizard named Crowley was stationed in the middle of the forest, and had enchanting items to sell. The items were said to change one's life permanently, and usually for the better (that is, if you are wise enough to choose rightly). Dean, being who he is, took that as a dare and ventured out to find the cottage in the forest, and Sam, knowing that his brother is an idiot, followed him.

Crowley examined the two young men, with what was seemingly keen interest.

"You seem to be in need of companionship." He assessed, causing Dean to give a small chuckle.

Now, that was something no one back home would ever assume. Crowley sat back on an old chair and poured himself a glass of… well, something.

"What he needs is a lack of companionship." Sam muttered, straightening his sword at his side.

Dean gave a smug smile at that, straightening a bit in pride. Crowley rolled his eyes.

"Companionship and a whore for the night are two completely different things, young princes, I can assure you of that. What it is happens to be a mate, a match, someone who fits to you as easily as breath enters your lungs." The oldest of the three said, with a swirl of his glass as he got up.

Dean and Sam looked at him strangely, as if he spoke some strange language, and he stood with a huff. He walked to the back of the room and lifted a rug to reveal a trapdoor. Opening it, he descended the stairs, motioning for the two younger boys to follow him. They did, and soon discovered that the root of Crowley's work was under the cottage, with vials and herbs, potion bottles and boiling cauldrons, but the most elegant and enchanting things in the room were the elongated, thin tubes that lined each wall.

"What are those?" Sam inquired, pointing at one and curiously going over to examine it.

The one he chose to peer in held magenta smoke, whipping around the tube in quick, elegant movements. As he got closer to the tube, the smoke morphed quickly into a girl, smiling comfortingly, with unruly blonde curls and cat-like blue eyes. The sight made him melt inside, and he smiled at the phantom brightly.

"What is that?" Dean asked, in awe.

Crowley laughed heartily as Sam continued to stare at the being behind the glass as if under a spell.

"That, my dear boy, is my specialty. I'm a matchmaker of sorts, but instead of leading you to a match, I create them with my own bare hands." Crowley explained, patting Sam on the back.

"Each case holds a being I created with unique features that are designed to fill a specific quality of a soul mate. Your brother's quality seems to be 'happiness', since he's taken a shining to Jessica there."

Dean stood with his brow furrowed, not truly understanding what Crowley was saying. He looked on as his brother kept gazing at 'Jessica' mesmerised, and looked back at Crowley, who by now had an amused look on his face.

"Now, what exactly do _you_ wish for?" the wizard asked, leading Dean to a tube of slowly swaying red smoke.

"Desire." He said again as the prince peered in.

The smoke whirled languidly to form a slender woman with fiery red hair that contrasted her too-pale skin. She looked up at Dean coyly, revealing brown eyes as she crooked her finger inviting him in.

"I call her Anna. If you pick her, she will eternally desire you like no other ever can, and might I add, she can be quite insatiable." Crowley chirped behind him as he watched the girl beckon him to come inside.

Dean huffed, amused.

"I'm next in line for the throne. I don't think that finding someone as willing as your 'Anna' will be hard, hell, it might even be cheaper." He replied, proudly.

Crowley brushed him off quickly, pulling him to another tube swirling with yellow smoke like a tornado. Dean looked inside as the smoke formed a beautiful young woman with unruly dark curls to her shoulders, chocolate brown eyes and an earthen skin tone. She had her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at him with what seemed to be a scoff, before giving him a once-over.

"Stubbornness better for you? She's a bit rebellious, unyielding, but once you win Cassie's heart she's a gem, although she might still fight you every step of the way. Makes for very lively conversation." Crowley tried.

Dean pondered for a bit before shaking his head at the tube and moving to another. A green, lively moving smoke contorted into a man less than Dean's stature, with golden hair and eyes to match. His eyes seemed ignited as he smirked mischievously at Dean and quirked one of his brows up. Dean smirked back.

"Ah, never a dull moment with this one. Gabriel is the embodiment of humour, but he's a bit of a trickster." Crowley regared.

Dean shook his head and marched over to another showcase, one with bright pink smoke that seemed to be clawing at the glass. The smoke dissipated to form a girl with blonde hair and chestnut eyes. She looked the youngest of the lot, her palms pressed to the glass and eyes pleading.

"Desperation in the form of Joanna. She'll cling to you day and night, bend to your every will and worry so much when you're gone even for an hour! She's perfect, right?" Crowley tittered when he noticed that Dean had taken a keen interest in this one.

After a while, the prince had gotten disinterested, and walked on.

One by one Crowley showed him the options: jealousy, innocence, intelligence, Nick, Tessa, Ruby… he'd been rambling for a while and had almost run out of options for the prince. What on earth did this man want? No one had ever taken so long to make up their minds and leave, hell, Sam got his match on the first try. Crowley was exhausted, frustrated, and leaned on a web and dust covered tube in an obscure corner beside a closet.

At the bottom of the tube, Dean noticed, was a small puff of blue, like fog on a mountainside of a coal fire exhausted. The smoke puffed once, before crawling up the side of the tube in a formless greeting. The being formed much slower than the others, and the first thing that Dean noticed were blue eyes that were too brilliant to be real, eyes that seemed to stare at his soul. Then, in an instant, the eyes lowered as the being bowed his head of dark, ruffled hair.

"What's this, chastity?" Dean asked with a laugh, poking the glass once in order to get the being's attention.

"No. That is Castiel." The man behind him said, voice no less than reverent.

The man behind the glass looked up at the mention of his name, pressing an earnest palm to the glass before dropping it once more. Castiel's shoulders drooped, and, unlike the rest of the persons behind glass, he was translucent, as if he couldn't gather enough energy to fully form. Dean felt something tug in his chest.

"What his specialty?" Dean asked, staring at the form in interest.

"Castiel here was an earlier version I tried out. Devoted, a bit stubborn at times. He is intelligent, a little naïve at times… all the qualities of a suitable mate, I'm sure." Crowley recited, trailing off a bit.

"I sense a 'but' somewhere in the sales pitch." Dean quipped as the blue eyes stared back up at him with trepidation.

Dean was transfixed with those blue eyes. The figure behind the glass reflected hurt, pain, rebellion, and a confusion that Dean could not place. There was also hope in those eyes, and charity, faith. He saw so much reflected in Castiel's eyes that it almost scared him. Crowley's laugh broke him out of the trance.

"Yes, there is a big 'but' in the sales pitch." Crowley stated. "Castiel isn't for sale. He's frail, been sold and brought back when deemed defective, the only one to ever be returned. Once upon a time, his blue filled that whole tube, the most beautiful thing you could ever hope to see. Now he's withered into something…less. He's not what I created him to be."

Castiel sent a glance to Crowley at the remark, rolling his eyes a bit. Dean gave a small chuckle at the gesture and Castiel looked back at him, eyes pleading for a millisecond with a tilt to his head before his head darted away.

"You see, Castiel's thing is supposed to be.." Crowley began again, only to be distracted – or interrupted - by a tube in the opposite corner setting off golden light that immediately attracted Dean.

The young prince all but ran to see what it was, bewitched by the dazzling sparks of gold that seemed trapped by the glass. The gold whirled into smoke, moving in shimmering bursts of lightning, mesmerising Dean with every move before forming a dark haired, dark eyed woman that pulled him in like a siren, a beacon, a moth to a flame.

"I want this one." He said, euphoric, as the golden woman gave him a blinding smile.

Castiel shrunk at his words, returning to the bottom of his tube in nothing but barely visible blue smoke, less than when Dean had seen him first, though Dean didn't care enough to notice, too captivated by the golden woman. Crowley frowned at Castiel's reaction, and ran a hand over his face.

"Ah, beauty, how could I forget my newest creation? So Lisa is your choice then?" Crowley asked, brushing some of the dust of Castiel's casing.

"Lisa," Dean breathed, as the golden woman laughed with him and Castiel shrank more at the sight.

"Fine, she's yours, and keep in mind that I don't make exchanges." Crowley said, waving his hands so that the containers for Jessica and Lisa were now pocket sized.

Sam startled as the magenta tube landed in his hand, and just now looked back at Dean and Crowley.

"Break the tubes as soon as you arrive home, the women will appear." Crowley explained as soon as he got paid.

Dean was halfway through the front door when he turned to Crowley. He wondered about blue-eyes, not even remembering his name.

"What special quality did the frail one possess, anyway? You didn't tell me." He said, clutching Lisa in his palm.

Crowley's lips quirked in a sad smile as he looked at the prince, remembering a man who had dragged a pleading Castiel back because he didn't obey, because Castiel made him feel worthless and insecure. Castiel was littered with bruises and Crowley had worked the spell to put him back in the glass case.

"He is pure, unconditional love, and when one is in love the dazzle tends to disappear, and you see yourself clearly through the one you've fallen for. And love doesn't always mean happiness or outward beauty." Crowley said.

Dean nodded, mounting his horse alongside Sam's, and riding away from the cottage.

"Regretting your choice?" Sam asked, in a light tone, noticing how quiet his brother had become.

Dean looked down at his hands, letting the reins of the horse fall as he noticed that the golden vial was replaced with one filled with slowly twirling blue smoke, reminding him of blue eyes and dark hair. He gave a smile.

"Not really." He replied…

A distance back, Crowley stood by his cottage door with a very angrily shaking, golden vial. He shook it angrily, peering in as the woman inside stared at him in fury.

"Oh shut up, you'll be bought soon enough, and Castiel deserved that as much as Dean needed him… and I'm starving." He said, putting the vial in his pocket with a satisfied look on his face.

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Hi guys! I just wanted to upload this cause it's been annoying me for months. New Updates to the stories coming soon, and find me now at AO3 and Tumblr as the-void-girl. Shamelessly promoting my Loki/Thor fic labelled Polaris on AO3, so...yeah, read and comment.

Ciao.


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